How Nirav Tolia started their logo design journey

Company name

Hedgehog Labs

Overview

We are a team of entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley who aspire to create a world-changing technology company.

Our company mascot is a hedgehog, inspired by the "Hedgehog Principle" – that parable comparing a fox, which is very clever and knows many creative ways to get a meal, and the hedgehog, a somewhat dull animal that knows one, and only one, thing: to roll into a spiked ball for protection. Yet even though the hedgehog may be a simpleton, he always wins, because despite the fox's many clever tricks and high intelligence, there's no getting around a spiky ball.

Hedgehog Labs is only a temporary or "code" name, but we still seek a great illustration of a cartoon hedgehog to bring our (temporary) mascot to life.

Tell us a bit about who you are and the people you reach

Our consumer products have mass appeal, so our hedgehog should appeal to that same broad audience – think less about targeting a specific market and more about designing for the masses.

Above all, our hedgehog should be friendly and cute – seeing him should elicit smiles and general good feelings. However, he needs to have some personality – specifically that hint of charisma and intelligence that sets him apart from other animals.

Requirements

We need a vector-based full-color illustration of a Hedgehog mascot. There is no requirement around text, but if you wish to incorporate "Hedgehog Labs" that is fine.

Besides Photoshop and Illustrator formats, we'll want GIF, JPG, and PNG versions. We need the illustration to have broad applicability, so please stick with a white background.

Here are some examples from around the Web of illustrations we like (ranked in order of who we like the best):